horrible

B1 Topic:Describing Qualities

Also spelled orrible

US /ˈhɔɹ.ɪ.bəl/ UK /ˈhɒɹ.ɪ.bəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #1509

Meanings

1

adj
Very unpleasant or bad.

The food at that restaurant was absolutely horrible.
2

adj
Causing shock and fear; terrible.

They described the accident in horrible detail.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 adj · causing shock and fear;... atrocious

More bad frightening

Word family

Derived forms horriblenesshorriblyunhorrible

Related forms horrendous horrific horrify horror

Etymology

First attested in Middle English (alternately as horrible and orrible) in 1303: from Old French horrible, orrible, orible, from Latin horribilis, from horr(ēre) (“tremble”) + -ibilis (“-ible”).

horribilis Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# horrible

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈhɔɹ.ɪ.bəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈhɒɹ.ɪ.bəl/
**Frequency rank:** 1509

## Meanings
1. Very unpleasant or bad.
2. Causing shock and fear; terrible.

## Examples
- The food at that restaurant was absolutely horrible.
- They described the accident in horrible detail.

## Synonyms
- bad
- frightening

## Derived Forms
- horribleness
- horribly
- unhorrible

## Related Forms
- horrendous
- horrific
- horrify
- horror

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: horribilis

## Etymology
First attested in Middle English (alternately as horrible and orrible) in 1303: from Old French horrible, orrible, orible, from Latin horribilis, from horr(ēre) (“tremble”) + -ibilis (“-ible”).

## AI Etymology
Horrible is first attested in Middle English (alternately as horrible and orrible) in 1303: from Old French horrible, orrible, orible, from Latin horribilis, from horr(ēre) (“tremble”) + -ibilis (“-ible”). The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern nominal form is built from the named base and affix. In current use, the main senses are “Very unpleasant or bad” and “Causing shock and fear; terrible”.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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